Infosys to Mentor 16 Start-Ups in UK

Times of India

February 13, 2013

BANGALORE: India's second largest IT company Infosys said it will assign a local mentor to 16 of the United Kingdom's emerging digital, wireless, and mobile software technology companies visiting Bangalore during their inaugural Web Mission 2013 to India.

Britain's most promising start-ups are on an entrepreneur-led trade mission to Bangalore and New Delhi this week with the aim of developing new relationships and opening up their business to the Indian market.

Some of these firms such as BuffaloGrid, aim to provide a mobile charging facility in rural areas in areas Africa and India which get little or no electricity, at five cents of charge an hour. Others such as Ambiental digitally map flood risk in a region, to help insurance companies decide on premium charge for a region.

Infosys hosted the first major session in Bangalore and will provide each company with a UK-based mentor to support them and drive business opportunities in the sub-continent.

During the session at the Infosys campus in Bangalore, Infosys Executive Co-Chairman S Gopalakrishnan, spoke to the entrepreneurs about the early stages of Infosys as a Pune based start-up, founded in 1981. "Not that long ago, Infosys walked in the same shoes as these entrepreneurs," Gopalakrishnan said.

"We built our business to become a global company in three decades, so I hope to bring some lessons about entrepreneurship in India to these companies. We are supporting them both in India and, after they return to the UK, helping and advising them on how to capitalize on the opportunities for emerging technology companies in the Indian market."

Bruce Hellman, the chief executive officer of uMotif, one of the Web Mission companies, said: "Once a small business itself, Infosys knows exactly the challenges we have in building our company, and I know that working with a global leader will help uMotif open doors and identify opportunities that might take much longer otherwise. I am particularly looking forward to exploring how Infosys can help us take our patient-focused adherence and self-care software to the Indian market."

In the past it would be Indian outsourcing firms scouting for business in markets such as UK, Europe's biggest market. But with a recessionary climate in Europe, the tech trend seems to have reversed. In 2011, UK exports to India increased by 29% - the country's largest non-EU export market.

The Mission is supported by the Technology Strategy Board and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), alongside other private sponsors.The eighth in a series of Missions organized, it is designed to help successful early stage businesses accelerate their growth potential overseas.